‘When the human race has once acquired a superstition, nothing short of death is ever likely to remove it.’ Mark Twain
What is superstition? I googled, and got this info: Superstition is a widely held but unjustifiable belief in supernatural causation leading to certain consequences. Merriam Webster says it is a belief or practice resulting from ignorance or fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance. Cambridge says it is a belief that is not based on human reason or scientific knowledge but is connected with old ideas about magic.
I got curious about superstition when I came from the wake of my roommate in the Sampaguita Residence Hall at UP many moons ago. I spent hours talking to her husband and Menchit’s “little” boys, now all grown up. When I stood up to go, one of the sons said:
“Tita, we see you off here as we cannot bring you to your car.” I thought I understood but one of my companions explained: “It is not right to see guests off during a wake.” “Why?” I asked. “It is a belief that has been practiced for the longest time. It would mean that we will never see each other in this life but only in the after-life.”
Another roommate cautioned against going straight home “We have to go elsewhere before heading home so that the spirit of Menchit will not follow us home. It is called “pag-pag.”
And I paused to wonder about these superstitious beliefs that have been passed on from generation to generation. Whether we are conscious of them or not, they are intertwined with our daily lives.
The young may shrug them off as “untruths” that have no place in the modern world.
However, a friend says that her Gen Z nieces actually practice some of them.
The long drive gave me and my friends much time to share about the beliefs that are practiced in our own household and in many Filipino households especially in the provinces.
Bella shared that when we were in University she never showed her parents pictures of us posing in threes. There were four of us roommates so one took the photo while the other three posed. Bella’s parents would have been upset because there is a belief that when three people pose for a photo, the one in the middle would be the first to die.
Moving house
When I transferred to a new condominium unit nearer my place of work, my carpenter asked me to bring salt, water and some rice or bigas to make work easier for him. I did what he said. Of course I included a crucifix with my Catholic upbringing asserting itself.
Since my condominium unit is just a small “hotel —room”, my carpenter did not worry about stairs. He explained that when building stairs, you have to take care to count the number of steps, they should be in even numbers and the top step should either be oro or plata for good fortune This explains why carpenters recite: oro, plata, mata to themselves when they build stairs. You must avoid ending with mata as the word means death and could bring you bad luck
Weddings
On our way home, we had to stop by a dressmaker to accompany a niece who was attending a friend’s wedding. And again, this started a discussion on superstitious beliefs of weddings.
A common superstition is avoiding the “sukob”, a term that translates in English as “sharing.” It is said that siblings should avoid marrying within the same year as this could signal the death of a family member or divide the luck between the two marriages.
At the dressmaker, we saw the wedding dress of her friend. The dress looked too big. The somewhat frustrated dressmaker said fitting a wedding dress was a no-no as this would bring bad luck, an unhappy married life or heaven forbid the cancellation of the wedding.
To beat around this practice, the dressmaker can fit the lining of the dress before she sews the dress itself.
Other superstitious beliefs
Another superstitious belief that is still very popular is for diners to turn one’s plate when a person leaves the table. Those who are still eating should turn their plates to wish for the safety of the person leaving. Also the table should not be cleared while there are still people eating as the person left eating will have a lonely life and will not marry at all.
Then there is the usog or bati. When someone praises the physical attributes of your child, you should respond with the phrase “pwera usog.” This is to offset the strong energy that some people may give off that could cause the child discomfort. Should that happen, the giver is asked to touch the child’s forehead with the giver’s saliva. Some parents pin amulets on the child’s clothes or mark their foreheads with red lipstick to block any negative energies.
These superstitious beliefs are just that–beliefs. What one becomes really depends on how one lives one’s life.
Life is a spiral….we live each day as best as we can.
